1. education
2. english as a second language

© 2015,
ISSN: 2322-4770
Science-Line Publication
Journal of Educational and Management Studies
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J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 5(1): 06-09, March 25, 2015
JEMS
Corrective Feedback Types and Improving Grammatical Accuracy in
Spoken Language
Sepideh Rabiei and Mojtaba Mohammadi
*
Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University,
Roudehen, Iran
*Corresponding author’s Email: m.mohammadi@riau.ac.ir
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
INTRODUCTION
PII: S232247701500002-5
Received 05Jun. 2014
Accepted 25Jun. 2014
ABSTRACT: The role of Corrective Feedback in the development of inters language system of language
learners is not at all negligible. Corrective feedback in writing skill has extensively been the focus of
attention by scholars. When it comes to medium of speaking, however, more investigations seemed
necessary. This study aimed to shed light on the possible impact of two different types of corrective
feedback, Focused Corrective Feedback and Unfocused Corrective Feedback, on foreign language
learners' spoken language accuracy. Eighty intermediate learners randomly formed two experimental
groups. One experimental group received focused spoken corrective feedback while the other received
unfocused spoken corrective feedback. The participants' grammatical accuracy in their spoken language
was measured through the speaking section of Cambridge Preliminary English Test both before and after
the treatment. The results showed that the corrective feedback was of value by itself in both groups.
However, the learners in focused corrective feedback group significantly outperformed the unfocused
counterpart regarding their grammatical accuracy in the spoken language.
Key words: Corrective Feedback, Focused Corrective Feedback, Unfocused Corrective Feedback,
Grammatical Accuracy.
learners while engaged in speaking activities. They
found that teachers mainly employ recasts, elicitation,
metalinguistic
corrective feedback,
clarification
requests, corrective repetition, and explicit correction
which included both implicit and explicit types of
feedback. In the feedback typology presented by Ellis
(2008) which was based on writing skill, there are
direct, indirect, metalinguistic, focused, unfocused,
electronic, and reformulation corrective feedback. He
defined focused and unfocused corrective feedback,
which are the concern of the present study, as the one
in which the teacher can select specific error types for
correction for the former and the one in which the
teacher elect to correct all of the learners’ errors for
the latter.
An extant literature review was conducted to
examine the effectiveness of corrective feedback on
language learning. Some viewed corrective feedback
as not only ineffective but also potentially harmful to
L2 accuracy (e.g., Truscott, 2007) while some
researchers (e.g., Bitchener & Knoch, 2008; Chandler,
2003; Ferris, 2002; Mohammadi, 2009; Sheen, 2007)
believe that CF is of value in promoting better
grammatical accuracy. A few studies have been
conducted based on investigating the possible effect
of corrective feedback on oral production of learners.
In a study carried out by Chaudron (1977), he found
out that some types of corrective feedback (e.g.,
repetition) led to more immediate reformulation of
utterances than other types. Doughty and Varela
(1998) also revealed that students who received recast
on specific language forms exhibit greater oral
For learners studying English in a non-English
speaking setting, it is very important to experience a
rich context of learning in which they learn how to
express themselves. It is very essential for the EFL
learners to say what they mean both accurately and
appropriately. Speaking skill is considered the most
challenging and complex of the four language skills
(Nunan, 1999; Zhang, 2009). Due to the fact that
enriching
competence
and
gaining
quality
performance in speaking skill is a tough and
painstaking job for most of language learners, few
studies have ever dealt with the speaking skill in Iran.
A primary source of problem faced by the EFL
speakers is their lack of knowledge or the hesitance on
the accuracy in their oral proficiency which is the
researchers' major concern in the present study.
Since the advent of Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) in 1980s, the goal of instruction has
turned to be the development of fluency and
acceptable language use (Omaggio Hadley, 2001). For
the proponents of CLT, meaning had priority over
forms. However, in 1990s, a few scholars asserted that
the explicit instruction of structure and error
correction can improve accuracy in oral and written
output of the learners (Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994;
Doughty & Varela, 1998; Ellis, 1993, 1994; Fotos, 1994).
Corrective feedback has been categorized by
different researchers in different categories. Lyster
and Ranta (1997) studied the different types of
corrective feedback provided by the teachers to their
To cite this paper: Rabiei S and Mohammadi M. 2015. Corrective Feedback Types and Improving Grammatical Accuracy in Spoken Language. J. Educ.
Manage. Stud., 5(1): 06-09.
6
J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 5(1): 06-09, 2015
accuracy comparing with those who had not received
a feedback. Few studies are carried out on focused
(FCF) and unfocused corrective feedback (UCF). Sheen
(2007) examined the effects of FCF on the
development of 91 adult ESL learners' accuracy in the
use of articles under the category of grammatical
accuracy in learners' written production. The study
done by Sheen (2007) asserted the effectiveness of CF
on learners' accuracy in their written production. Ellis,
Sheen, Takashima and Murakami (2008) compared the
possible effect of FCF and UCF on the accuracy of
English articles and reported that both FCF and UCF
groups outperformed the control group which
received no CF. Speaking in a foreign language seems
frustrating and hard to deal task for many EFL
learners.
The present study aimed to investigate the
possible effect of focused corrective feedback and
unfocused corrective feedback on accurate use of
grammatical structures in the learners' spoken
production among intermediate EFL learners. To this
end, the following research questions were raised:
- Does focused and unfocused types of
corrective feedback have any effect on improving
grammatical accuracy of oral output among Iranian
EFL learners?
- Does focused corrective feedback have more
effect than unfocused corrective feedback on
improving grammatical accuracy of oral output among
Iranian EFL learners?
Test both before and after the treatments. Two
trained raters were involved rating the students
spontaneously based on the rating scale of PET
speaking section in which one category is grammatical
accuracy. The inter-rater reliability indexes for both
pre- and post-tests were .93 and .75 respectively.
RESULTS
The data collected from both groups were finally
analyzed to trace the probable changes in and
between groups as a result of the treatments. The
statistical analyses of Paired-Samples t-test and OneWay Analysis of Covariance were run to investigate the
effect of types of corrective feedback on the
performance of the participants on the pretest and
posttest on the grammatical accuracy of their oral
output. The main assumptions of these two analyses
are normality of data and homogeneity of variances.
As displayed in Table 1 the ratios of skewness and
kurtosis over their respective standard errors were
lower than +/- 1.96 (Field, 2013). Thus, the assumption
of normality was met.
The assumption of homogeneity of variances is
dealt with when reporting the results of ANCOVA. To
test the first hypothesis, a Paired-Samples t-test was
conducted to evaluate the impact of focused and
unfocused corrective feedback types on EFL learners'
grammatical accuracy of oral output.
According to Table 2, there was a statistically
significant difference between the learners' pretest (M
= 10.50, SD = 3.76) and posttest (M = 15.42, SD = 3.12),
t (39) = -5.86, p < 0.01 (two-tailed) of the focused
group. The mean increase was 4.92 with 95%
confidence interval ranging from -6.62 to -3.22. The
eta squared statistic (.47) indicated a large effect size.
There was also a statistically significant
difference between the unfocused group learners'
pretest (M = 10.32, SD = 3.28) and posttest (M = 13.75,
SD = 3.34), t (39) = -6.87, p < 0.01 (two-tailed). The
mean increase was 3.42 with 95% confidence interval
ranging from -4.43 to -2.41. The eta squared statistic
(.44) indicated a large effect size. The results showed
that both corrective feedback types (focused and
unfocused) could significantly affect the learners'
grammatical accuracy of oral output.
To test the second hypothesis, One-Way
between-groups
Analysis
of
Covariance
was
conducted to compare the effectiveness of two
different feedback types (focused and unfocused) on
improving the learners' grammatical accuracy in oral
output while controlling for pretest scores.
As shown in Table 3, the independent variable
was the type of feedback (focused and unfocused),
and the dependent variable consisted of scores on
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The present study is a quasi-experimental one
since the researchers could not find the chance to
randomly select the sample groups out of target
population. The participants consisted of 80
intermediate EFL learners including 23 males and 57
females who were between 16-32 years old studying
in an English language institute in Tehran, Iran. They
were selected out of 98 learners who had sat for
Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET) at the
beginning of the study for their homogeneity
regarding their English language proficiency. They all
had the experience of learning English for at least one
year in the educational setting of the same English
language institute. Two experimental groups were
formed. One experimental group received focused
oral corrective feedback on only specific grammatical
points assigned by the syllabus every session while the
other received unfocused oral corrective feedback on
all the grammatical problems they committed while
speaking. The participants' grammatical accuracy in
their spoken language was measured through the
speaking section of Cambridge Preliminary English
7
Rabiei and Mohammadi, 2015
their grammatical accuracy of oral output after the
treatments were completed. Participants’ scores on
the pre-test of the grammatical accuracy of oral
output were used as the covariate in this analysis.
Preliminary checks were conducted to ensure
that there was no violation of the assumptions of
normality, linearity, homogeneity of variances,
homogeneity of regression slopes, and reliable
measurement of the covariate. After adjusting for preintervention scores, there was significant difference
between the two intervention groups on post-test
scores on the learners' grammatical accuracy of oral
output, F (1, 77) = 5.26, p = .02, partial eta squared =
.06. This means that 6.4 per cent of the variance in the
dependant variable is explained by the independent
variable (FCF and UCF groups) which is, according to
Tabachnick and Fidell (2013, p. 55), medium in size.
The adjusted mean s in dependant variable in both
groups also showed that FCF (M = 15.41, SD = .51) has
more effect than UCF (M = 13.76, SD = .51) on
improving grammatical accuracy of oral output among
Iranian EFL learners.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for both focused and unfocused CF groups
Gram. Accuracy
Pretest
Gram. Accuracy
Posttest
N
Mean
Median
Mode
SD
Variance
Skewness
Kurtosis
80
10.41
10.00
10.00
3.51
12.34
.085
- .647
80
14.58
15.00
15.00
3.32
11.05
- .39
- .64
Table 2. Paired-sample t-tests for pretest and posttest in focused and unfocused CF group
Paired Differences
Mean
SD
SEM
95% confidence interval of
the differences
Lower
Upper
t
df
Sig.
(2-tailed)
Pair 1
(FCF)
Pre-gram.
Post-gram.
-4.92
5.3
.839
-6.622
-3.227
-5.86
39
.000
Pair 2
(UCF)
Pre-gram.
Post-gram.
-3.42
3.15
.498
-4.433
-2.416
-6.87
39
.000
Table 3. One-way between-groups analysis of covariance
Sources
Corrected Model
Intercept
Pre.gram.
Groups
Error
Total
Corrected Total
Type III Sum
of Square
80.05
1356.65
23.93
54.256
793.33
17897.00
873.38
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
2
1
1
1
77
80
79
40.02
1356.65
23.93
54.25
10.30
3.88
131.67
2.32
5.26
.025
.000
.132
.024
After exploring what research has to say about
CF in helping learners with problematic language
learners, the researchers gained new appreciation and
confidence in using focusing providing CF in oral
production. Research has shown focused CF does not
overload learners with too much information and
when focused on a single targeted error, it does lead
to gain in spoken language accuracy. Although both
groups have improved by both types of corrective
feedback, we can see that the group which received
focused corrective feedback has improved better. As
all the learners in both groups were intermediate, we
can conclude that they were aware of some language
points so the teacher attracted their attention in
special language point in focused group. Those
learners in unfocused group may be confused and
Partial Eta
Squared
.092
.631
.029
.064
frustrated by correcting all the errors and not just
focusing on specific point.
Thus, based on this study, the groups who
received focused CF have outperformed the
unfocused CF. The results suggest that unfocused CF
is of limited value among Iranian EFL learners,
whereas focused corrective feedback promoted
learners' foreign language speaking skill accuracy
more effectively.
DISCUSSION
The first research question of the study was
concerned with the role of CF on learners spoken
language accuracy. The statistical results of the study
showed that both groups had improved level of
8
J. Educ. Manage. Stud., 5(1): 06-09, 2015
accuracy in their oral performances on their posttests.
Concerning the results gained through this study, the
results corroborate those of studies discussed before
(Bitchener, 2008; Bitchener & Knoch, 2008;
Mohammadi, 2009; Sheen, 2007). In these studies the
effectiveness of the CF was valued in the field of
grammatical accuracy in the learners' written
production while in the current study the same
findings were gained in the field of oral production.
The second research question was also based
on the comparison of the effectiveness of the each
kind of CF on learners' spoken accuracy. The results of
the current study emphasize the effectiveness of the
use of focused CF. Although both groups had
improved, the focused group outperformed the UCF
group and considered more effective. In line with the
study done by Sheen (2007), the findings of the
current study showed the effectiveness of the FCF use
in the field of grammatical accuracy.
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in the corrective treatment of learners' errors.
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Doughty, C., & Varela, E. (1998). Communicative focus
on form.In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus
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Ellis, R. (1993). The structural syllabus and second
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(2009).
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(2008).The effects of focused and unfocused
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CONCLUSION
The findings of the study are beneficial for EFL
teachers as to help them find a way for dealing with
learners' erroneous grammatical points in their
spoken language. Furthermore, it suggests that they
use FCF to improve the accuracy of spoken language
which, per se, leads to more linguistically qualifies
production.
We recommend that further research be
required to reconfirm and stabilize the results since
some other factors such as socioeconomic
background, educational system, cultural context …
can also reinforce such results. Only this way can the
related literature witness an established fact about the
influential role of corrective feedback, in general, and
focused corrective feedback, in specific, on the
process of language learning.
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